Review: Kanda Naal Mudhal

Kanda Naal Mudhal from 'Duet Movies' directed by Priya.V, who has assisted Mr.and Mrs. Maniratnam with their movies, has been refreshingly presented despite its tried and tested storyline.

Story = Yesterday's biriyani
Boy-girl always fight....another guy comes into the picture....confusion and chaos which causes too many problems for the girl.....boy helps her out.....boy-girl love.... boy-girl hate.... boy-girl love again....the end

But, Priya has managed to package this wafer line story well. A good set of technicians, well etched characters, some really nice performances and rocking music somehow makes yesterday's biriyani very palatable. Krishna (Prasanna) and Ramya (Laila) had a very unpleasant fight when they were kids. Fate brings them back together again 20 years later, at Krishna's college fest but the unpleasantness continues. A few more years pass by and we are shown Krishna managing a software firm funded by his NRI friend Aravindh (Karthik) who hates marriage(Why do all NRI guys in cinema hate marriage?). Ramya on the other hand works for some company and supports her family. Her family consists of a younger sister who wants to badly marry her christian boy friend of seven years, a kid brother, a hearing impaired father and a really sweet but weak hearted mother (played admirably by Revathy). I think you can make out the story by now.

Now to the performances, the whole movie revolves around Prasanna and Laila.They have shouldered the responsibility very well. Prasanna has some amazingly funny lines in the movie.His perfect comic timing prevents us from realizing the absence of a comedian in the movie.However, he is not Charlie Chaplin throughout the movie. Prasanna brings out the right expressions when he is not able to decide on being selfish and proclaim his love to Laila or remain selfless and help his friend marry Laila. I don't know if its just me, but the way Prasanna carries himself resembles Surya in Mounam Pesiyadhe.Laila looks cute for most part of the movie except for the "Merke Merke" song where she looks absolutely ravishing in a green saree. I never thought Laila could play the role of a 'short tempered head strong girl who has an opinion about everything' so well. I have seen her in movies like Nandhaa where she mostly keeps quiet and in Ullam Ketkumae where even kids found her acting juvenile. So this was a pleasant surprise.I guess the director should again be credited for lending a whole new dimension to Laila's acting capabilities.Lakshmi who plays the role of Ramanima,a mother who will not rest until she sees her NRI son get married, raises a few laughs. Revathy plays Laila's mom with consummate ease that one can expect from such a seasoned actress like her.Karthik who plays the role of the NRI guy doesn't have much to do in the movie, he has a few scenes in the first half and then reappears at the very end of the movie. He doesn't overact and does what is required of him.

The movie has its share of flaws.Though all the characters seem realistic there is no plausible reason for their existence in the movie. The scene leading to the climax where Prasanna and Laila want to find out what's running through each others mind was an absolute joke. I have never seen people walking on the highway and talk about how they feel for each other when hundreds of monsterous lorries and buses are zooming past them. The dialogues in the highway scene (especially Laila's dialogues) makes you feel like tearing your hear apart.Sample this, " Yen nabanum nee, yen edhiriyum nee..." .It was more like a poetry recital, apart from people like Kannadasan and Vairamathu you wouldn't find many who can wax their eloquence in such a grim situation. I felt that the director hurried with the climax.Its a text book ending, I don't know how she muddled it up.

Yuvan Shankar Raja once again is top class. "Ilayaraja's son" will soon give way to "Yuvan Shankar Raja's father".Ilayaraja's shoes are really huge to fill but YSR who has a distinct style of his own seems to be getting there. P.C.Sreeram cranks the camera, and it didn't look any different from the other movies being released (which goes to say that all Tamil movies are well shot and technically slick). Priya, the debutante director does a really good job if one discount the climax. In this day and age where "Kollywood" is about king sized egos, its nice to see someone like Prakash Raj to have the guts and back a debutante woman director and a relatively inexperienced star cast. On the whole, this movie despite its predictability has been well executed and is a welcome change from the "3 fights,2 gaana songs,father/mother/sister/brother sentiment" formula. Some really enjoyable performances and well tuned songs makes it a worthwhile trip to the theatres. Its one of those movies that you have to watch with your girlfriend/boyfriend/husband/wife.(People who know me, don't worry I went with three fully grown men and NO I am not into that).